Song Mingyue

Chapter 258
Just as the Heshuo Forbidden Army was training in full swing, the [-] Western Army finally arrived at Mozhou City.

The leader of the Western Army is Liu Yanqing, Tong Guan's confidant, and Wang Tian, ​​the deputy commander.

Although it was only [-], it was the best of the best, including the [-] white battalion soldiers led by Yang Keshi.And Han Shizhong and Lu Da were the generals that Zhao Hao named to participate, and they also came with the army.

As the most elite division of the Song Dynasty, the arrival of the Western Army gave the top generals of the Northern Expedition Army reassurance.The Western Army has fought against the Xixia people all year round, and its combat experience and combat effectiveness are by no means comparable to other Forbidden Army.Moreover, most of the top generals of the Northern Expedition Army had more or less backgrounds in the Western Army, including Tong Guan, Brother Zhong Shidao, and Yang Weizhong. Even Zhao Hao had such inextricable connections with the Western Army.More importantly, both the Heshuo Forbidden Army and the Jingshi Forbidden Army were mainly infantry, and the total number of cavalry was less than [-]. The arrival of [-] white battalion soldiers undoubtedly greatly made up for this shortcoming.

As soon as the Western Army arrived and sent troops to Xiongzhou, the time to send troops northward was getting closer and closer.

At this time, the eunuch Zhang Di, the confidant of the official Zhao Ji, led more than a hundred relatives and officials, and came to Mozhou with the imperial decree.

……

drive drive drive!
In the territory of Hejian Mansion, a group of people galloped forward, bringing up a stream of smoke and dust, and they were hundreds of steps away in a blink of an eye.

There were about thirty or forty riders who came, all of them wore red cloaks, red official robes, long swords hanging from their waists, and masks on their faces to keep out the dust.

And in the middle of the crowd, surrounded by a gold and jade-decorated carriage, pulled in front of the carriage were two white horses more than seven feet high, showing the extraordinary status of the people in the carriage.And behind the carriage, there were two strong riders, holding a dark yellow flag and a dark green embroidered flag.

The two big flags fluttered in the wind. Looking carefully, one can see the black and yellow flags, with golden scales and dragon claws faintly exposed, and a dark green big flag unfurled next to it, with the word "Zhang" on it.

The curtain of the car was lifted, revealing a dry face, with a look of tiredness in the cloudy triangular eyes, looking up at the sky, followed by a voice like a duck's voice: "Where is this?"

Someone beside him hastily replied: "Qi Gonggong, the first forty li or so is Hejian City, and you can enter the city before sunset."

Lan Hua raised her fingers, "Since we've arrived at Hejian, there's no hurry. Let's find a shop ahead and take a break."

The curtain of the car was lowered, and the man disappeared into the car again.

The person who came was Zhao Ji's imperial envoy and one of Zhao Ji's confidant eunuchs. His surname was Zhang Mingdi.

Zhang Di is over 40 years old and entered the palace since he was a child. He followed Zhao Ji when he was still the king of Duan. It can be said that he served Zhao Ji when he grew up.That day when Zhao Hao ordered Jin Yiwei to pretend to be Zhao Fujin's messenger eunuch, he was pretending to be Zhang Di, and that's why Cai Kuang was convinced and fell for it.

Zhang Di was worried that Tong Guan and Zhao Hao had already set off when they arrived in Mozhou, so he didn't dare to delay along the way.A group of people left the capital, hurried all the way, hurriedly and slowly, and finally arrived at the boundary of Hejian Prefecture six days later, and it was not far from Mozhou.

After walking for about ten miles, as expected, there was a small inn-like shop in front of it, with a long bamboo pole protruding obliquely, holding a big "wine" character.

When everyone saw the restaurant in the distance, they couldn't help their spirits lifted, and they urged the steeds under their crotches to fly forward.

The store is right next to the official road, but there are three or four wing rooms, a tent is set up at the door, and a lot of tables are set up. It is estimated that it will not be a problem to seat four or fifty people, but the business seems to be not good, and the front door is extremely deserted.

A little girl in a bright red dress, with a few flowers on her head, sat obliquely on the threshold, leaning against the door frame and dozing off.

Xi Yuyu~
All the riders reined in their horses and stopped at the door, and the neighing of the horses one after another woke up the drowsy little girl.

"Hey, all the officials, do you want to stay in the hotel or eat?"

Seeing so many guests coming, the little lady's eyes lit up, and she greeted them lightly like a butterfly, her voice was as sweet as honey.

If you look carefully, you can see that although the young lady is dressed in a rustic manner, she has picturesque eyebrows and a peach-blossom face, especially her waist is soft and thin like a water snake, but her chest is so high, coupled with her courteous appearance, It made the bones of all the relatives and officials crisp.

Unexpectedly, this desolate place also has such a watery young lady, and everyone can't help but think about it.

It's just a pity that their leader is an eunuch, he doesn't like this, he slowly got out of the carriage, sat down in front of a table in the middle of the carriage, looked at the little girl contemptuously, Lan Hua raised his finger: " If you have any good food and wine, just serve them up, and your money will be indispensable."

"Okay, all the officials, please take your seat... Ladies and gentlemen, let me die and serve all the officials!" The girl smiled and winked at all the relatives and officials, then turned her head and yelled at the shop.

"I'm coming!"

Following a burst of responses, four or five sturdy men with the appearance of a second child sprang out of the store, some brought water to feed the horses, some brought stools for everyone to sit down, and some brought tea and tea bowls, and they were extremely busy. Happy.

After a while, eight or nine tabletops were filled with all kinds of dishes, including cooked mutton, donkey meat, and steaming steamed buns, all of which filled the table.

Zhang Di looked at the dishes on the table, and suddenly patted the table: "Shopkeeper, get over here!"

Seeing the customer getting angry, the shopkeeper's lady hurried over and asked with a smile on her face, "Guest officer, but the meat and vegetables are not fresh?"

Zhang Di stared: "There is no wine, what kind of bird shop?"

The young lady said urgently: "Oh, the guest officer misunderstood, the wine in this shop is good, but the stamina is too strong, thinking that all the officials have to hurry, so I dare not serve it."

Zhang Di sneered and said: "We haven't eaten any wine in our family, just serve it, if it is sour, it will ruin your shop?"

The young lady in red didn't dare to say anything, she could only turn around and shout: "Xiao Er, serve wine to the guest officer!"

Following a burst of responses, several waiters brought out seven or eight jars of wine, carefully placed them on the table, and did not forget to tell them: "Guest officers, this wine is very strong, don't be greedy."

Zhang Di looked at the wine jar in front of him, and saw that the mud seal on the mouth of the jar was intact and full of old mud. He nodded slightly, and immediately had someone slap open the mud seal, fill a bowl of wine, and raised his hand to call for the shopkeeper: "The shopkeeper Yes, come and have a drink with our family."

The little lady walked over cautiously with a smiling face, and said softly: "This guest officer, I don't drink at all."

The relatives around shouted together: "Our lord told you to drink alcohol, you just drink it, what are you talking about, could it be poisoned in the wine?"

The little lady had a bitter face and pouted her mouth: "The guest officials are making fun of you. The slave family is a serious business, and they dare not poison the officials. If this is the case, the slave family will risk their lives to accompany the gentleman."

After finishing speaking, he picked up the wine bowl and drank it all in one gulp. Then he coughed and patted his chest continuously because of choking.

Everyone laughed: "The wine seller doesn't know how to drink, but it's interesting, haha..."

Zhang Di was still worried, and when the girl finished coughing, she pointed to the dishes on the table and said, "Just take a bite of each dish."

The little lady had no choice but to stuff a handful of each dish into her mouth and eat it, and even ate half a bun.

Everyone no longer had any doubts, and drank happily with the steaming food and wine.

Just when everyone was drinking and drinking, that Zhang Di suddenly felt his head spinning and his eyelids became heavier and heavier. He raised his hand and wanted to say something, but he fell headfirst on the table.

"There is poison in the food and wine..." Someone shouted.

Before the words were finished, a large area fell around.

The little girls changed their cautious looks, and there was a tricky smile on their faces, pointing at the relatives and officials and laughing: "Down, down, down..."

After a while, all the relatives and officials fell down one after another, and none of them survived.

……

I don't know how long it took before someone woke up slowly, and there was no one around except Zhang Di who was lying on the ground and all his relatives and officials.

The official who woke up first finally came back to his senses, and hurriedly brought out a bucket of water from the store, and splashed everyone awake, and finally Zhang Di also woke up leisurely.

At this time, the red sun is westward, and night is about to fall.

Everyone saw that their horses had all been taken away, and even Zhang Di's carriage had been taken away.

Looking into the store again, it was also empty, the shopkeeper's lady and the waiters had long since disappeared.

When I touched my body, I found that all the money and things on my body had been emptied, and I couldn't help cursing one by one.

Zhang Di touched his body, and suddenly his face changed drastically: "The imperial decree is gone!"

Everyone was dumbfounded.

It's a good thing that the horses and money are missing. I'll make do with this inn tonight and go on my way tomorrow.Thirty miles away, it took more than half a day to go to Hejian City to find officials in the city to help solve the problem.

The problem is that the imperial decree is gone, but there is nothing to do. Both Tong Guan and Zhao Hao are senior members of the first and second ranks, so I don't believe Zhang Di's oral order.

Zhang Di only felt a splitting headache, and ran all the way here, but the trip was in vain. He was so angry that he scolded all the eighteen generations of the ancestors of those strongmen who had troubled them.

Things have come to this point, but there is nothing to do, so I have to go to Hejian City tomorrow, and then find a way to find a car and horse to go back to Beijing, and ask the official for another imperial edict.

……

The next day, when Zhang Di and others were yelling at the thieves and trekking all the way to Hejian City, Fang Baihua had already led all the guards to Mozhou City.

The golden scroll imperial edict was placed on the desk in front of Zhao Hao, spread out evenly.

Zhao Hao read the imperial decree carefully, and couldn't help feeling furious.Obviously, as long as this imperial decree is passed on to Mozhou City, he, Zhao Hao, will almost be deprived of his military power in public, and it will be very embarrassing for him to act.

If you only manipulate behind the scenes and push Tong Guan to the front, it will not be as effective as directing yourself; if you force yourself to control the situation, it will inevitably cause opposition from other generals, and there will inevitably be a lot of resistance.

Fortunately, some of the eunuchs in the palace were developed into Jinyiwei, news came from the palace, Zhao Hao urgently sent Fang Baihua to lead people to Hejian Mansion in person, and Jinyiwei passed the news along the way, and finally intercepted the imperial decree.

He folded up the imperial decree, poured oil on it, and lit the lamp, and soon the imperial decree was burned to a mass of ashes.

He raised his head slowly, with a murderous look in his eyes.

Cai You and Cai Mao are two traitors, they can really go to the sky if they don't want to be rectified.

(End of this chapter)